What to get her - Need mothers opinions, please!

[Blackbird1234]

Hi all,

My mum's birthday is in December and I'm really struggling to find something wonderful to gift to her for her birthday and then Christmas.

I always prefer to get something meaningful, rather than the standard "scarf and flowers", but I'm all out of ideas! Over the years I've given her: personalised/engraved jewellery, a book for her to fill in all about her life before kids, a photo frame with recent pictures of the family, a locket with photos of myself and my brother inside, a crystal rose... you get the idea.

As I'm stuck on ideas this year, I thought that asking other mothers would be a great idea!

So, could you please give me some ideas of fantastic, meaningful presents that you would love to receive from your children?

(For info, my brother and I are mid-twenties and my mother is early 60s)

Thank you in advance!

I'm a bit younger but have got to the point where I prefer experiences to stuff. For example, I'd love a day learning tk do my hobby, or tickets to a concert or to an art exhibition. Vouchers for a nice meal in a posh restaurant?

I did think of experiences but she usually gets a couple of those from her PIL every year. I could maybe look into a concert but she's not fussed about fancy restaurants etc. I was hoping for something physical that she can keep for years, something quite special.

If she’s got a garden then you can get a Rose Bush named after her and sent to her.

My Mum did something very special for my 40th. She got a picture painted of me holding hands with my daughter and grand daughter (who was holding her favourite rabbit) and either side of us was my dog and my cat. It still chokes me up now when I look at it. All she did was provide the artist with a few pictures and descriptions of us and I now have the most beautiful momento on my wall.

@MellowMelly She's got a big garden but really isn't interested in flowers/gardening at all. The drawing idea sounds like it could be quite good, I'll have a look and see if there are any artists local to me :)

Are there any past/present pets? You could get a favourite photo put onto canvas for her. My ex boyfriend did this for me with my old dog, it's a lovely memory of her

@OldEvilOwl - We've had pets, but they're never been "hers". We had a couple of cats that were the families and she's now got a dog but she's definitely more my stepdads dog than my mums.

This is what I'm battling with, she's a difficult one and the traditional ideas just don't usually work with her!

A nice vase?

Have they got WI-FI? Get her an Alexa

Digital photo frame with loads of pics set up. Old ones scanned
Magazine subscription
Kit for a new hobby, like cross stitch? Puzzles/ brain training. Jigsaw
Spa day
Beauty treatment
Driving day out - like rallying or skid pan
Family day out would be my favourite. Everyone together

She doesn't care for vases, Alexa wouldn't work out for her and isn't as meaningful as I'd like. Beauty treatments wouldn't work as she goes to a salon fairly regularly so it wouldn't be special, she doesn't have a hobby, doesn't care for driving...

Some more clues, she's a very young 60ish and really doesn't care for gardening, gadgets, hobbies etc.

I'm really looking for something that she can physically unwrap and treasure for a long time (like a locket, a photo album, engraved jewellery etc)

As you can see, she's a tricky one!

How about a piece of jewellery with relevant birth stones - yours, hers, siblings etc?

A bottle of Jack Daniels and a signed photo of a young Martin Shaw?

@allthesharks - That sounds like it could be really good, I'll write that one down, thank you!

@elQuintoConyo - You could be onto something there...

something that she can physically unwrap and treasure for a long time

It's a lovely thought but one of the things I have found about getting older is that you have all the things you could possibly want. If there was something you wanted, you would just find and buy the exact one you wanted.

When we had to clear out DMiL's house, there were drawers full of jewellery still in boxes and bottles of scent. Sigh.

Things that you can't get yourself are time with others, pictures of loved ones and (gulp) letters of appreciation from your loved ones.

The best thing my ds could give me is their time, so an experience we could do together. They are not yet adults but when they are I think this would be what I would want. If you want to give a physical gift then some of the pics on not on the high street can be personalized. A family tree perhaps?

@FinallyHere - I understand where you're coming from, I think I want something physical that she can cherish because it's the type of present that I personally love and it's gone down so well in previous years, whereas we don't usually do "experiences" so maybe that is something that I'll look into. I do love the idea of a letter so I think that I'll definitely be doing that and will get my brother to do the same. Maybe that combined with the birthstone idea would be great!

@thebear1 - Thanks for the recommendation, I've looked on "not on the high street" before and loved their stuff but completely forgot about it!